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Mon 03 Mar 2014 - (V1)
This is the first non-accessibility Puplet that I have attempted and as it transpired the simplest!
Inspiration for it came in the form of Windows 8.1, with its ability to switch between a traditional desktop and the “Metro” style fondle slab interface. Other goals were Chromebook like speed together with ease of use.

"Blue" was the MS codename for Win 8.1, which hopefully it should leave trailing in the dust.

It is likely to polarise opinion and is based on Quirky Tahr version 6.0.5 k3-12-6.
The install is to a USB2 or USB3 stick of at least 8GB.

By default it boots to the Metro interface but that behaviour is easily changed so that it boots instead to a standard desktop. The left hand Windows key is used to launch or re-launch the Metro interface. The right hand Windows key switches to the standard desktop as does the menu key.

Technical Stuff:

Whilst the full screen Metro interface is fine for launching a web based application or a locally held text file, it cannot launch a local app and the use of ALT+TAB can be a pain if you have several apps open. It is also far too easy to launch the same app twice.
The solution adopted is to rely on key bindings which pass variables to a script which in conjunction with wmctrl raise a window and give it focus if an app is already running or if it is not running, launch it or another script to do so. This sounds complex but is all in the background. In practice, if at any point you are in the Metro or standard desktop interface and wish to launch or raise E-mail for example you only have to press ALT+E.

New metro tab Chrome extension version 1.0.1
A few new scripts plus changes to jwmrc-personal.
Some pre-configuration of metro extension tiles, Chromium and Thunderbird.
Revised syslinux.cfg
Various new icons.

Download quirky-6.1-8gb.img.xz, from one of the above links.
Expand and install (for example of Flash drive being sdb) (in a non-Puppy distro, you might have to do the 'sudo' thing, to run as root):
# xz --decompress --stdout quirky-6.1-8gb.img.xz > /dev/sdb
# sync
Further documentation is required to do this from Windows. Well, you might look here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
...but, you will need to first install an application such as 7-zip (http://www.7-zip.org/), that can uncompress an .xz file -- and be prepared, it will expand to a 7.6GB file, so make sure the partition has enough space!

If you use a 16GB or bigger drive, no problem, you can use GParted (which is in Quirky) later to create an extra partition to fill the drive. Note, f2fs can not yet be resized.

7-Zip should be used to decompress the 8GB image. (The PortableApps.com version is recommended)

If you first attempt to boot the stick on the same pc or laptop that you used to create it, make sure that before doing so, you shut down the device and remove all mains power from it for a couple of minutes.
This will ensure that your BIOS refreshes its view of the stick and sees it as bootable.

Setup Procedure: - All versions.
(If you move a working Blue Pup USB stick to another PC repeat this procedure on the new PC. Blue is totally transportable between PCs)

1. Boot from the stick. If the Metro interface launches exit it by pressing Alt+F4.

4. If you are using an LCD display, launch Fontwizard from the JWM/desktop menu. Ensure that all boxes are ticked & then click on apply. Restart X.

5. If the network icon in the tray has a red X through it, right click it to setup your network settings. Delete any existing profile then at the bottom select Ethernet or wireless as appropriate.

6. Adjust your sound volume by clicking on that tray icon.

N/B By default the Cups service is disabled. Enable it if and when you wish to print.

Flash & HTML5 players:

Please note that flash 11-11.2.202.341 is already installed and that Chromium has HTML5 capability.
Many sites are in the process of changing over to HTML5 with its superior quality and some have already done so. YouTube is in transition but you can visit their home page and opt to prefer HTML5 over flash when possible. I assume that opting to do so sets a persistent cookie. The bottom line is that you still need flash for both YouTube and YTinstant. By default flash is enabled.

Ted.com already appears to have changed over and whilst it is o/k with Chrome it will not work with Chromium if flash is enabled. In Chromium therefore I have set a bookmark to “about:plugins” so that you can easily disable and then re-enable flash to use that site or any others that prove problematic.
There is a tile for Ted.com on the metro interface and also a tile to access the flash plugin. Press F11 to toggle access to the bookmarks bar or use the tile.
If you intend to launch TED.com disable flash first. Having done so, exit the browser with Alt+F4, then re-launch it with the LH Windows key. You can then click on the TED tile to access their excellent HTML5 videos.

Tip:
If you forget whether you have flash enabled or not just use the metro tile to visit the Puppy forum home page. If the advert banner in the top right hand corner is static rather than animated then flash is disabled.

Final Thoughts:

This Pup is firmly in the “toy” category but is fast in either mode and very user friendly. Please test and flag up any issues.

The traditional desktop mode should satisfy old greys such as myself but equally when switched to metro mode it should keep the grandchildren happy.

An optional upgrade for Blue Pup V2 & V3 (bluepup-sp1.pet) can be found here: (Released 16th April 2014)
www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=771604#771604The pet enhances these versions by providing easier use in the form of four screen “hot sides” triggered by mouse pointer contact.

1. In V1 only, to boot to the traditional desktop by default move the file “inter” from the /root/Startup directory to the /root/ex_startup directory, then restart X. If you change your mind move it back.
(The file already in the ex_startup folder named “inter_ex_startup” should always remain there)

2. White png icons on a transparent background for new tiles can be found here:

6. (Faq) Isn’t this just a Pup + Chromium + Chrome extension?
In truth - yes. Its strength lies in the way it has been implemented with its “run-or-raise” feature” tied to key combinations making it quick, easy to use and fairly bomb proof.

7. To update Thunderbird – in T’bird click on help/about/update.

8. (Faq) To resize an f2fs partition you would first, using an f2fs aware Pup such as QT, Precise 5.7.1 or Thin Slacko, need to move all the files off it to a Linux partition somewhere. Then using Gparted change the format of it to ext2. Expand it then revert it back to f2fs before finally moving your files back onto it.
This is necessary as Gparted does not yet allow for the resizing of f2fs partitions.

9. If anyone is curious about the construction of the 8GB USB stick GPT layout that BarryK issued for QT and is used in Blue V1 & V2 but not in later versions, this is the relevant link:

10. Blue V3 attempts to address two issues that emerged in testing by forum members. The first is that some sticks are in reality less than 8x1000x1000x1000 bytes. The second is that some BIOSs will not boot from a USB stick without using some trickery.
When I first issued blue I failed to anticipate the first problem and although aware of the second, did not realise just how common that problem is._________________Regards ETP

KennelsLast edited by ETP on Sun 30 Aug 2015, 12:06; edited 16 times in total

However I will download it anyway just for the extra setup stuff.. I want to play my Amazon prime videos again and without chrome and newer flash it does not work.

Looks like a great effort.... Fat Quirky6 is born... or Fat tahr quirky puppy .

If you need a icon my friend has a dog that is fatter then tall and has tiny legs.

Hi Ted Dog,

Does your friend’s dog sport a Blue rinse by any chance?

Seriously though, I rather expected to get shot at dawn for this one.

My thinking behind this release is to offer the bling that is fashionable and likely to attract youngsters to try and experience the benefits of Linux. Witness their obsession with smart-phones and fondle slabs. If we fail to keep pace with the times and only major on code and functionality at the expense of form, we will stand little chance of attracting the next generation to Linux who will perceive the traditional desktop as something archaic only suited to geeks or grandfathers._________________Regards ETP

As for me, I really don't care much about whether this new "canine" has a simili-
whine-dose interface or not. The interface could even be a crystal ball you rub this
way or that way!

On a more serious tone:
I can imagine and respect the hard work that you obviously put in this derivative.

That said:
In this "canine", how much attention has been paid to ironing out the traditional soft
points of Puppy -- occasional problems at shutdown and with initial pupsave creation?
(As reported many times on this forum.)

And a derived question: Can it use a pupsave? If not, why not? Anything wrong now
with Puppy's previous frugal concept?

sorry ETP but Billtoo did you get a chrome pepper or chromium that runs newer flash player with 64bits? 32bit Quirky6 has horrible support for video.. where I can get both fd64 machines play videos well even witbout drivers by hardware companies.

Not really interested In turning my Win8 hardware back to look like Win8 but I think a linux take on the idea could be useful... for others..

QT is a full install to a partition. It makes no difference whether that partition is on a stick, card or disk. As such there is no pupsave file. Barry’s inbuilt snapshot facility provides for backup and restore.
It is a 32-bit distro but I would prefer 64-bit. We will have to wait and see whether Barry explores that route. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Puppy’s previous frugal concept. QT is just an alternative, albeit a very quick one, which is similar to the majority of linux installs but smaller.
In testing with a variety of USB sticks plus installs to SSD I have not experienced any freezes or shutdown problems. In fact shutdown is remarkably quick. May I suggest that you give QT or Blue Pup a try to see how they compare with a traditional Pup?_________________Regards ETP

Well, I wanted to try it. After following the BK instructions above numerous times, I have to post here for help getting it installed and running. I've used the Quirky installer numerous times without issue, but it seems the manual way isn't working for me. Tried it in Quirky Tahr and Precise 5.7.1. I tried f2fs and Ext2.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Additional note, it seems the sync command doesn't do anything after the install.

If the Linux method is not working for you I suggest that you try the Windows method of getting it onto a USB stick using 7-Zip to decompress the 8GB image and then placing the image on the stick with win32diskimager.

The stick should first be formatted as fat32 so that Windows and win32diskimager can see it. You can use windows to do that. Also give it a label so that in “My Computer” you can easily check what drive letter Windows has assigned to it.

In win32diskimager that is the drive letter that you should target._________________Regards ETP

I formatted the card fat32 and set the boot flag,then in my Quirky 6.0.5 install I did "xz
--decompress --stdout blue_pup_v1_8gb.img.xz > /dev/sdg" + "sync" in
the terminal, sdg wasn't mounted while this was done.

Shutdown and rebooted from the SDHC card.

It's working okay so far.

EDIT:
My SDHC card is plugged into an usb adapter.

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Last edited by Billtoo on Fri 07 Mar 2014, 06:23; edited 1 time in total

Many thanks for testing a Blue Pup install to a 16 GB SDHC card. It is good to know that the default timings in the “inter” script which are intended for USB2, also hold up for SDHC.

Thanks also for posting the more detailed instructions for an install using Linux.

Quote:

I formatted the card fat32 and set the boot flag,then in my Quirky 6.0.5 install I did "xz
--decompress --stdout blue_pup_v1_8gb.img.xz > /dev/sdg" + "sync" in
the terminal, sdg wasn't mounted while this was done.

One minor point here is that setting the boot flag is not needed as the image is bootable. Installing to a USB2 or USB3 stick will of course give a quicker boot time.

This seems like a good time to detail how to install to a hard disc or SSD.

Install to hard disc or SSD:

Having created a working Blue Pup install on a card or stick you have all the ingredients and simply need to copy over the complete contents of the 2nd partition on the card or stick to an empty f2fs partition that you “prepared earlier” on your disc. It should be at least 16GB in size to allow room for snapshots. (20GB is recommended)
N/BIf you elect to shrink an existing partition in order to create an f2fs partition it is strongly advised that you back up your whole hard disc before doing so.
To perform this copy you will have to have booted from an f2fs aware Pup such as Blue Pup,QT, Precise 5.7.1 or Thin Slacko.

How to boot it:

Choice is a fine thing so there are 3 options.
1. Do your own thing using your preferred boot-loader.
2. Modify the syslinux.cfg on the card or stick slightly so that you can boot from that.
3. Prepare another smartmediacard, SD card or stick of at least 16Meg to boot from. Such an image is available here:www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=770189#770189

I will only cover option 2 here as it is the easiest. As it stands the syslinux.cfg on the card or stick will contain just the following single line of code:

As you move up the chain from SD card to USB3/HD/SSD the timings (sleeps) in the script named “inter” which is to be found in the Startup folder can be reduced. That script is very simple and well commented with conservative proposals.
Here it is:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
# ETP 2nd March 2014 Blue Pup
# Lest I forget. The default sleeps of 6 and 6 are
# intended for slow USB2 sticks. If running from SSD
# they can be reduced to 2 and 2. If using a USB3 stick
# a reduction to 4 and 4 may be possible.
# Running Chromium in kiosk mode introduced too many
# problems, hence the use of xdotool.
sleep 6
cd /usr/bin/
chromium-browser &
sleep 6
xdotool key F11 &

In testing I found that a lower limit of 3 + 3 can in fact be used with an install to a USB3 stick running on an i5. With an install to a Samsung 840 Evo on the same box a reduction to 1.5 + 1.5 was possible. (Any lower and there was a danger of the browser launching before the DHCP request had been satisfied if the router had entered sleep mode and needed to re-acquire an external I/P)

Please note that these reductions do not translate directly into reduced boot times. Roughly speaking the reduction is half the difference between their combined totals.
If for example you reduced the defaults of 6 & 6 (Total 12) to 2 & 2 (Total 4) you should see an improvement of ((12 minus 4)/2)which equates to 4 seconds._________________Regards ETP

KennelsLast edited by ETP on Fri 23 May 2014, 11:29; edited 8 times in total

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